1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a water conditioner and more specifically to a water conditioner for removing scale and preventing scale buildup in plumbing.
2. Background Information
Municipal and private potable water supplies throughout the United States are for the most part hard water. Hard water is characterized as water containing objectionable amounts of dissolved salts of calcium and magnesium, usually present as bicarbonates, chlorides or sulfates. Calcium sulfate, carbonate and silicate salts are particularly objectionable because of their scale forming nature in plumbing. Therefore, it is desirable to remove such dissolved salts from hard water.
Sodium cation exchange, termed water softening, is the most commonly used process for removing salts from hard water. In this process, calcium and magnesium ions in the hard water are exchanged for sodium ions in an exchange resin. The process requires relatively high capital investment for the ion exchange equipment and requires ongoing operating costs for a continuous supply of common salt to regenerate the exchange resin. Thus, the process is prohibitively expensive for many water softening applications.
Although some static water conditioners which avoid these costs are known, they have not been entirely satisfactory for removal and prevention of scale. As such, an effective water conditioner is needed for treating hard water. More particularly, a water conditioner is needed which requires relatively low capital and operating costs, yet which is specifically effective for the prevention and removal of scale formation in hard water.